After being divorced, my identity as a poet was exposed

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the first year of Zhen'an.

Zhao Hanyue of Yue State continued to advance in the wind and snow with his 100,000-strong Shen Ce Army.

Zhao Lun's ceremonial procession also set off again, heading towards Blackwater City.

There were winds blowing from all directions in Sifeng City, the capital of Yue State. The city was desolate and there was none of the festive atmosphere of the Lantern Festival in previous years.

Even the gates of the two major Zen temples, the East and West, were closed, so that the devout believers could only burn a stick of incense in the incense burner in front of the door.

There was a lot of traffic at the four city gates, but more people were leaving the city than entering.

There's going to be a war!

I heard that the Zen sect has assembled tens of thousands of monk soldiers.

I heard that the imperial guards were all stationed on the walls of the inner palace.

I heard that Princess Hanyue went to Blackwater City to move the Shen Ce Army...

Food prices have been rising wildly these days.

In just a few days, the price of this grain has increased ten times more than before!
It looks like the price will continue to rise, because the imperial court did not open warehouses to stabilize grain prices. Instead, it purchased grain and fodder on a large scale in other places, so that the grain prices across the country were raised to a new high.

All signs indicate that war is about to begin.

For the people of Yue State, they thought that this would be a disastrous civil strife. Only a few officials in the court knew about all the preparations, and most of them were to deal with the barbarians who were about to come from Lijiang!
The ministers in the Yue court have been in a state of panic these days.

The residents of the city were naturally uneasy, so at this time, those who had distant relatives left Four Winds City with their families and went to live with their distant relatives.

But Changle City in Ningguo is completely different.

Yihonglou confirmed that the emperor would attend the Lantern Festival tonight, and the people of Changle City were full of expectations.

The lantern festival is at night.

It was still early in the morning.

The main theme of life is still oil, salt, firewood and rice. Although the residents of Changle City are looking forward to the arrival of night, the day's business has begun as usual.

So the sounds of hawking could be heard one after another in the streets and alleys.

The light winter mist is mixed with the smell of charcoal from the fire and the wheat aroma of steamed buns just out of the oven. This is the atmosphere of life in Changle City.

Li Chenan's carriage was moving in the atmosphere of fireworks.

He lifted the car curtain and looked at the lively scene outside, feeling a little proud.

This place used to be a forbidden area, but now it has become another commercial center of Ningguo.

So what about the future?
Once the construction of Yanjing City in Youdu County, Beimo Road is completed, the Ningguo court will definitely move to Yanjing City.

When I leave here, and when the imperial palace of Yujing City is moved to Yanjing City, will these two places still be as prosperous as they are now?

We cannot allow these two places to decline because of the relocation of the imperial palace.

The northern city of Yanjing should become the political center of Ningguo.

The Yujing City and Changle City in the south must become the economic centers of Ningguo.

The existence of the Yuguang Canal makes this idea possible.

After the construction of Yanjing City was completed, the Ningzhi Road would go directly from Yanjing City to Youzhou... The Ningzhi Road had to continue to be built!
It will run through the entire Beimo Road, directly reach the Yangtze River port through Jingning County and connect with the Yangtze River shipping route.

In this way, the north-south transportation is basically completed.

The time from south to north will also be greatly shortened.

All of this takes time and a lot of money!

With the back taxes paid by Luo Ye and the income from the auctioned port and shipping operating rights, the country's financial crisis was greatly alleviated.

But this is far from enough!

So, today he went to Changle Palace not to discuss politics, but... to make money!
This time we're going to make a lot of money!

We must raise enough money to build the city of Yanjing!

That’s hundreds of millions of silver!

Therefore, the person who can undertake this big deal must be the most powerful businessman in Ningguo!

He invited Chen Dingmao, the patriarch of the Yingzhou Chen family.

Guo Shanyi, the patriarch of the Guo family in Lingdong Road.

Cui Sangeng, the patriarch of the Qinghe Cui clan.

Wang Qian, the patriarch of the Taiyuan Wang family.

Su Mingtang, the patriarch of the Jiangnan Su family.

Cai Zhengyao, the largest grain merchant in Guangling City, and Liu Baiyin, the head of the Liu family in Shuzhou, etc.

Among them are Ningguo’s aristocratic families as well as Ningguo’s most powerful chaebols.

Only Cai Zhengyao is a special existence.

Among the people he invited, Cai Zhengyao's strength was the weakest.

But now, Cai Zhengyao was sitting in his carriage, looking at Li Chenan anxiously.

In the 23rd year of Zhaohua, just because the wine he brewed was very good, when the Huo family and the Shen family, the largest grain merchant in Guangling City at that time, joined forces to suppress him, he helped him.

I swear to God, Cai Zhengyao was only interested in the third lady of Zhongli Mansion who was standing behind Li Chenan at that time!

He is a businessman.

He is still a businessman with not very strong strength.

In the small piece of land in Guangling City, he absolutely could not and dared not to have a head-on conflict with the Huo and Shen families.

But when he saw the third young lady of Zhongli Mansion actually appeared in the backyard of the tavern, he keenly realized that the third young lady seemed to be really interested in Li Chenan.

He decided to take a gamble!
If Li Chenan really became the son-in-law of Zhongli Mansion... With the support of Zhongli Mansion, his Cai family would have a chance to make a name for themselves in Guangling City.

Of course, if the bet went wrong, he was also prepared to leave Guangling City with his family and go far away.

He made the right bet!

He never expected that the owner of that tavern would rise to become the regent of Ningguo!
The Shen family fell from power and even the ancestral home was sold to him.

The Huo family still exists, but now they are extremely low-key in Guangling City.

Even the head of the Huo family would greet him politely when he saw him.

He even became the largest grain merchant in Guangling City.

Now, just three short years have passed, and that small tavern owner...he has actually become the biggest boss in Ningguo!

As a result, his Cai family became the royal merchant of grain in Ningguo!
Years ago, I received the emperor's handwritten letter delivered by the post officer.

The words "invitation" were written on the envelope.

The letter only contained three short sentences:
"I have a big deal.

If you are interested, please arrive in Changle City before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month of the first year of Zhen'an.

I will host a luncheon for you at Changle Palace on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and discuss this deal in the afternoon."

Cai Zhengyao still doesn’t know what the deal is, nor does he know how many people the emperor has invited.

But for Cai Zhengyao, it is a great honor to receive the invitation from the emperor!

Because the Huo family doesn’t have it.

In the entire Guangling City, there is only one family like his, the Cai family!
This made Cai Zhengyao extremely excited. He arrived in Changle City five days in advance, but did not dare to go to the hot spring villa in advance.

Li Chenan lowered the car curtain at this time, turned his head to look at Cai Zhengyao, and smiled slightly:
"We are old friends, so don't be nervous, okay?"

After hearing this, Cai Zhengyao became even more nervous.

He pursed his lips and bowed quickly:
"I, the common people... If the emperor doesn't abandon me, I will be his slave!"

"I am the Emperor's lifelong slave!"

Li Chen was relieved, "Back then when I was in Guangling City, I was grateful for your help..."

"emperor,"

Li Chenan waved his hand and said, "I treat you as my own."

Cai Zhengyao became more and more excited. Being able to become the emperor's own person... this, this made him even more flattered.

If he wasn't in this carriage, he would have immediately knelt down on the ground.

"Listen, I have a task for you."

Cai Zhengyao's face flushed with excitement: "Your Majesty, please give me your orders. Even if it means that I should die immediately, I will not hesitate for a moment!"

"What are you dying for?"

"Live well for me, and you will have endless happiness in the future!"

"Listen carefully, I am just asking you to be my assistant, but of course, you will also get some benefits."

Cai Zhengyao was stunned for a moment, he understood what Tuoer meant.

But you are the emperor, do you need someone to help you do anything? (End of this chapter)